Author Games: Ace of Spades

Semifinals: Ren Cayse

The heat rose to Ren's cheeks again and he spoke without truly meaning to, venom on his tongue. "I suppose next you'll be congratulating us on surviving the night?"

Emerson parted a pair of pink lips, stuck on what to say. "Not yet, no."

"Shocker." The corner of Ren's lip twitched - clearly noticed by Zahra, who grinned at the fault.

The heat in his cheeks ran cold.

Giving in to what would probably become the inevitable anyways, he stood, rolling his shoulders and stretching his back. His dress shoes rang out against the tile, slapped against fallen cards, and he kept an easy expression about his face as he approached the Aces at a steady walk.

"Is there something you need?" Arcana asked. The impatience was slight, but there.

Instead of answering, he continued straight on for the group, easily dodging the question. "Have you ever wondered about what truly defines perfection?"

He caught Kol pursing his lips and shrugging. "Not really, if I'm speaking for myself here. What's this have to do with anything?" It wasn't said nastily, but out of innocent curiosity.

Aw. That's sweet. He stills owes me a Pepsi.

Zahra cut him off there. "I can assure you we haven't, and I don't see the point in this. I promise if you sit back down that we'll hurry things up here and you can have a nice night to yourself."

"I've gone over the formula for years. Four walls made of stone and tile - gives you lots of time to think, right? Well, for so long, I thought I'd had it all figured out. Came together when I got here." Ren paused in front of Emerson, casting them a soft look. "It's a beautiful, ever-changing thing, don't you think? The standards, the methods? It always boils down to this: don't overdo it, be simple - going over the top breaks the dam."

Kol and Arcana shared a look, and Ren moved on to stand before Zahra, twirling the still-burning cigarette between his fingers.

"But coming here," he continued, staring down at the little orange embers, "helped me think."

Zahra huffed lightly. "And what've you thought about here, hm?"

Ren's face remained blank, and he kept his eyes glued on the very tip of his cigarette, even when it went careening down to meet the unblemished olive skin upon Zahra's shoulder. "Perfection is getting tangled between all the little flaws. The result must be something you never wanted."

A screech crawled out of Zahra's throat and into the open air; when the five visiting faces flinched away, so did the Aces, and then came Zahra's turn to whack at Ren's hand and push herself away. "You're crazy," she hissed, hand hovering over the burn.

"I'm not talking about me, sweetums." Ren reached around her defensive hands and tapped the burn mark upon her shoulder - she pushed him back again and he shrugged. "I'm talking about all this. This incredibly simple plan you boiled up." He leaned forward, hands behind his back to assure her he wouldn't make another move. "It didn't turn out the way you wanted, did it?"

His gaze remained hardened, and the slightest of pinks colored otherwise pale cheeks - but despite the steady look he kept up, the shaking in his hands was noticeable, and his breaths came and went dangerously quick.

He was scared, and he damn well knew it.

This was made evident when a pounding sounded on the other side of the doors the Aces had just come through, followed by a heavy voice shouting at them to "hurry up!"

The Aces all shared a look, a timid one that Ren wouldn't have expected from such a lot. They looked guilty.

Kol turned to him then, eyes cast in such a way that let everyone know he had no choice in what was about to happen - a gun slowly made its way to his hand, and he flicked off the safety. "You burned that money, Ren. A promise is a promise, y'know."